Confirming what neurocomputational theorists have long suspected, researchers report that the human brain locks down episodic memories in the hippocampus, committing each recollection to a distinct, distributed fraction of individual cells.

The Herschel Space Observatory has uncovered a weird ring of dusty material while obtaining one of the sharpest scans to date of a huge cloud of gas and dust, called NGC 7538. The observations have revealed numerous clumps of material, a baker's dozen of which may evolve into the most powerful kinds of stars in the universe. Herschel is a European Space Agency mission with important NASA contributions.

A six-year-old Bolivian girl presented with an unusual medical symptom: uncontrollable and inappropriate fits of laughter. "She was considered spoiled, crazy, even devil-possessed," according to those who knew her. Then medical researchers discovered a hamartoma -- a small tumor pressing on the temporal lobe of her brain.

Investigators have found a therapy that reverses new onset type 1 diabetes in mouse models and may advance efforts in combating the disease among humans. There is no cure for Type 1 diabetes though it can be controlled with insulin therapy. Symptoms of the disease include frequent urination, excessive thirst and weight loss even though you are eating more.

New research suggests canola oil may be one of the oils of choice for people with Type 2 diabetes. Researchers compared people with Type 2 diabetes who ate either a low glycemic index diet that included bread made with canola oil, or a whole wheat diet known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The research found that those on the canola bread diet experienced both a reduction in blood glucose levels and a significant reduction in LDL, or "bad," cholesterol.

Years after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil spill, oil continues to wash ashore as oil-soaked 'sand patties,' persists in salt marshes abutting the Gulf of Mexico, and questions remain about how much oil has been deposited on the seafloor. Scientists have developed a unique way to fingerprint oil, and have successfully identified Macondo Well oil, even after most of it has degraded.